


alien (someone reach out for me)

by seungminis



Series: record breakers and game players [1]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: (and the future), (bonus if they're stem geeks just like you), Alien/Human Relationships, Alternate Universe - Science Fiction, Coming of Age, Enjoy!, I really love this au, Loneliness, M/M, Summary: Everyone Loves Coldplay, also this is my innie bday fic, anyway, but humanoid, catching feelings in the late nights, coming of age movie aesthetic, egregious coldplay references because that's just what i do, finding a family away from home, inspired by jisung's alien, jeongin is Attracted to That like a moth to a flame, jeongin loves coldplay, jeongin said so, jeongin's a metaphorical alien, jisung has kaleidoscope eyes, jisung is a real alien, jisung will : also love coldplay too once he's introduced to them, learning to break free from toxic friendships, listening to coldplay and stargazing, my second favorite genre~, ones that hold the universe in them, pls give it love, stan coldplay losers, stan tuyu lolz, sunsets at the top of ferris wheels, that song's the anthem of my social life, the beauty of being different, they learn to love themselves, why is that not a tag, you better believe any mention of loneliness here is self projection lolz
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-12 11:14:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29384004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seungminis/pseuds/seungminis
Summary: Jeongin’s thrown aside and forgotten by his friends, yet, he feels like he sticks out like a sore thumb, an alien.As much as he likes to study the possibility of extraterrestrial life, he doesn’t like that he feels like one of those beings himself.Meanwhile, Jisung has so much love to give to his family, and the world around him, but it all bounces off the cold walls of the civilization of the planet Miroh-terra, never reciprocating and leaving him hanging, every single time.He feels like an alien in his own home.Then a chance encounter happens, and two lonely stars collide.or:  jisung, a literal alien from miroh-terra, and jeongin, a figurative alien from yellow wood high school, learn the beauty that comes with being different and the warmth of being wanted.
Relationships: Han Jisung | Han/Yang Jeongin | I.N
Series: record breakers and game players [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2158512
Comments: 20
Kudos: 13





	alien (someone reach out for me)

**Author's Note:**

> this is late but happy birthday to jeongin! it’s been such a pleasure watching him and stray kids grow for the past couple of years and i’m going to continue to support jeongin and the rest of skz!! i have an incredibly soft spot for jeongin (he's one of my three ults) -- i find myself relating to him a lot and of course, i’m a huge softie for vocalracha so that might throw something in there. but i admire jeongin for going out at such a young age to pursue his dreams and look at how far he has come! i’m excited to see what he has up his sleeve next!
> 
> also i love jeongsung!! its my fav jisung ship and my fav jeongin ship, and my 3rd otp (after seungjin and minchan)~ it's about time i wrote a jeongsung lol :D
> 
> remember this is purely fiction -- i’m not making any assumptions about the real jisung, jeongin and skz, their personalities, sexualities, and relationships! this is just for comfort, and fun, and to bring a smile to your face. 
> 
> ALSO i listened to a shit ton of coldplay along with jisung’s alien while writing this, so if you wanna listen to coldplay, [ here’s my coldplay playlist!! ](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5g2QGniKAaIXL8XxFeaqZ7?si=Nmbz3AOyQnyqrBgaMBWS5g)
> 
> thanks to lily, vhasu and honey for beta-ing the parts i wasn't too happy with! this fic is really experimental so i'm trying out new styles of writing, and yeah, it's Tough :D
> 
> with that, i hope you enjoy this jeongsung story!! there's 4 parts because i said so :O

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the birth of a story

“Landed by chance, I’m an alien on this earth.

It feels like I don’t even really fit in everywhere.

No matter how I smile, I’m still _lonely_ ” 

- _Alien, Han_

\-- _Somewhere near the atmosphere of Earth, Solar System, Milky Way Galaxy, Universe_

In Han Jisung’s honest opinion, he constantly screws himself over. He doesn’t mean to do so, but he consistently finds himself in unfortunate situations where he’s convinced he’s going to die a painful death. Maybe it’s the price he has to pay for daring to be different than the rest of the Miroh-terrans -- his species, his kind.

Miroh-terrans, or humanoid inhabitants of the planet Miroh-terra, are the kind of creatures that strive for excellence in everything that they know how to do. They’re crisp, clean-cut and cold, always having some place to be or something to do, and having no time for trivial things like family or love (though they still had to do it to carry on the family name). They’re the kind of creatures who stick to what they know -- never overstepping boundaries, because why risk your life for the name of discovery when you can do what’s safe? They are robotic. Lifeless.

Jisung, however, is the polar opposite of what a Miroh-terran is supposed to be. The Miroh-terran personality was coded for in their genome, and Jisung was born with many genetic “malfunctions” in his PER2 gene, a very incredibly rare disorder, or at least, that’s what the medics declared. (Jisung doesn’t really consider it as a malfunction or a disorder, though, but that’s how the star shines. )

Jisung is the kind of person to do whatever he wants whenever he wants to; he’s messy with overgrown bangs with dyed streaks and baggy clothes. He smiles, brighter than the sun, and he’s warm-blooded with a fiery gaze and a passionate heart. He’s curious, constantly absorbing information, because Miroh-terrans are able to learn large amounts of information by simply observing for a couple of days, and he oversteps his bounds too much to be considered socially acceptable.

He has so much love to give to his family, and the world around him, but it all bounces off the cold walls of the civilization, never reciprocating and leaving him hanging, every single time. 

He feels like an alien in his own home. 

Maybe that’s the reason why he became a space explorer -- it was a curious job for a curious person, and if we’re being frank here, literally no one else in Miroh-terra wanted it. Jisung loved to explore space, stopping at various planets to fuel up his ship and himself, and the stars were much more warm and welcoming than the people back at home.

Speaking of home, he rarely visited the place, only visiting on Yellow Wood and Cle days, every year until 2204, only to be laughed at a little more, so he dropped it all together. 

It’s freeing.

But it’s also lonely. 

Jisung, being a warm and loving humanoid creature, craves a companionship with someone other than the stars: someone he can share his stories with, someone who can laugh with him and cry with him, someone who he can make memories with, someone _alive_. 

Without that, Jisung thinks he’s better off dead. 

And coming back full circle here, that’s why it makes sense that Jisung gets screwed over every second of his life, and why he kind of deserves his current situation (read: hurtling towards an unknown planet in an unknown galaxy). Obviously, it’s because the universe knows he shouldn’t have lived as long as he has, and it’s trying to murder him in any way possible; it’s definitely not because he had forgotten to check the fuel tank. Totally not. What makes you think that?

Either way, the “too long; don’t read” summary of the situation Jisung is stuck in is that he’s hurtling towards some weird blue and green planet and is going to die alone. Fun.

He doesn’t really mind though. Jisung believes in reincarnation, so he hopes he can be reborn into a life somewhere in the vast universe where he doesn’t feel like an alien in his own skin. 

His spacecraft, the SS Slump, enters the atmosphere of this planet and everything begins to heat up and Jisung swears that he’s about to pass out. His vision goes blurry and weird liquid beads on his forehead (he doesn’t know what to call it, because he’s never experienced it before), and the noise of the spacecraft is deafening. Then, black spots cloud his vision before taking over it, (Jisung’s brain can’t comprehend the sensory overload he’s experiencing), and the last thing Jisung feels is the thud of his shoulder hitting the metal floor of his spacecraft.

Maybe he should have sat down and buckled his seatbelt. 

**

\-- _Yellow Wood High School, Seoul, South Korea, Earth, Solar System, Milky Way Galaxy, Universe_

Yang Jeongin’s just trying to enjoy his day. School ruins that, as it naturally would.

Don’t get him wrong. Jeongin _loves_ school -- at least the learning part of it (and maybe he’s the only teenager in the city to admit he likes to learn, or at least he feels that way) -- but he _hates_ the people in it with a seething passion. Of course he has friends, though! The friends are great.

Correction: were great. Now they’re more toxic than radioactive waste, in Jeongin’s very humble opinion. So never mind, scratch that, he hates everyone.

However, high school is a ruthless place, and Jeongin always finds himself sticking with the Toxic Wastebin (his affectionate nickname for his “friend circle”) in order to not get swallowed up and spat out by his peers. 

Of course, he wishes it wasn’t this way -- he wants friends, good ones, and he wants to live a normal high school life with those friends he hopes to find: hanging out in Rock Park, sipping Cola at Another Day Diner, and playing video games at Booster Arcade. 

WIth his current group of friends, however, he is consistently left out of the loop, so he doesn’t count on experiencing the normal high school life anytime soon. His friends are the kind to “vibe with” (in Jeongin’s words) all the gossip queens and kings of the school, so his friends always exchange information with each other, but Jeongin is the smart one out of them -- his only job is to help them with school-related things and to be the one they leave on read whenever he tries to be friendly. 

They laugh at his passion -- astronomy -- as well, constantly calling him a “geekozoid” (or so Jeongin says). None of them take STEM pathways at their career-focused high school, preferring to all take accounting because according to them it’s easy, so they don’t understand Jeongin’s fascination with the science behind the stars and the world and their Very-Freaking-Existence.

He’s thrown aside and forgotten, yet, he feels like he sticks out like a sore thumb, an _alien._

As much as he likes to study the possibility of extraterrestrial life, he doesn’t like that he feels like one of those beings himself. 

It’s because of his stupid friends that Jeongin finds himself in the science lab on his own in the afternoon office hours on this particular day, instead of with his friends, loitering in the hallways, and that’s when his day goes wrong.

It starts with Seoyong, one of the members of the Toxic Wastebin, barging into the science lab, creating a ruckus that stops Jeongin from reading the new book on Physics that he got. 

“Yang!” Seoyong calls out loudly and brutishly, like some kind of caveman. “What are you up to?” 

Jeongin quickly dog-ears the corner of the page of his Physics book, creasing the paper tightly, before closing his Physics book, pushing his thick-framed glasses up the bridge of his nose, and forcing a smile. “I was just reading!” he replies, trying to hide the fact that he hates everyone at Yellow Wood.

Seoyong smirks as he slides in the seat next to Jeongin, and his voice is patronizing as he replies, “What are you reading, then?” 

“Just a book,” Jeongin replies half-heartedly, internally praying that Seoyong would leave as soon as possible. 

“What book?” Seoyong presses, and Jeongin can feel his anxiety spiking. If they find he’s reading another “space geek” book, they’d laugh at him, and Jeongin isn’t in the mood to be laughed at today. Jeongin hesitates, and Seoyong makes a grab at the book guarded in Jeongin’s arms. Jeongin tries to dodge but is too slow and he feels the textbook being plucked out of his arms. He tries to stop Seoyong, but it’s too late -- the boy peers at the cover and a sneer grows on his face. 

“Physics.” Seoyong mutters judgementally, before scoffing. Jeongin resists the urge to flinch as Seoyong comments: “Seriously Jeongin? You’re so weird.” 

Jeongin flushes as he averts his gaze to ground, glaring holes into the linoleum floor. Seoyong takes one last inspect of the book, “This is for your own good, bro. You’re too obsessed with this stuff, get a life.” With that, Seoyong chooses to exit, taking Jeongin’s new book with him, but he pauses at the door, before tossing the book into the recycling bin. 

Jeongin fumes, face burning redder than a fire truck, as tears threaten to fall. His fists clench and he takes deep breaths in. Google told him that whenever he was angry and about to cry, he should ground himself, so Jeongin looks around for five things he can see -- he sees a Bunsen Burner, the damned recycling bin his Physics book is in right now, the blackboard at the front of the room, a chipped beaker on one of the lab tables, and a poster that says “May the f=ma be with you!”. 

Okay, good. Now, four things he can touch: he runs his fingers along the granite lab tables and presses his feet into the linoleum tile beneath him. He feels his fingernails digging into his skin, and the stool he’s sitting on. 

Three things he can hear. He hears birds chirping outside the window, singing to their young, and he hears murmurs in the hallway. The classroom is eerily silent, only filled with the sounds of his breathing, so he counts that as well. 

He thinks of two things he can smell, and immediately disinfectant comes to mind, along with the faint scent of chalk. 

Finally, one thing he can taste -- there’s still a bit of strawberry milk lingering on his tongue from when he had a snack earlier, and he counts that.

Feeling much calmer now, Jeongin takes a deep breath in and unclenches his fists. He sighs loudly, as he slides off the laboratory stool and walks across the linoleum floor, fanning his face and wiping away the few tears that managed to escape. He stops by the door and takes another deep breath -- in and out, before looking in the recycling bin and pulling out his Physics book. 

_It’s okay,_ he tells himself, _It’s fine._

Jeongin exits the room, looping that thought in his mind, except deep down inside, his heart beats in discord with his mind. Nothing is fine. He doesn’t belong here.

He never will. 

**

Of course, Jeongin was greeted by no one when he reached his studio apartment -- he lived alone in Seoul. From his hometown, Busan, his parents paid for his expenses as a student at the prestigious private school that was Yellow Wood, and gave him spending money for necessities. (They really couldn’t leave due to family obligations in the town). 

Jeongin’s gotten used to it, though. He concocts himself a snack of instant ramen, and then sits down at his desk, next to a window that overlooks Seoul. He smiles bittersweetly at the bustling city visible to him, wishing for a faint second that he had someone with whom he could enjoy the view. 

Well, time to get cracking. 

He spends a few hours finishing up his homework. His phone is pinging with his “friends” asking him for homework help again, and Jeongin chooses to dismiss them. He’s not in the right state to help them out, and he really doesn’t want to either. He’ll probably come up with some excuse later.

What Jeongin really wants to do, though, requires him to finish all of his work earlier than usual. He manages to do that, and after proofreading his maths sheet, he tidies up his desk and removes his glasses (he used them mainly for reading), setting them on the clean tabletop. After smiling proudly at his productivity, he saunters over to his closet and grabs his jacket, sliding it on, before grabbing his phone, earbuds and messenger bag.

He’s going to escape reality -- his favorite part of the day. 

He leaves the apartment, making sure to lock his door, or his parents would skin him alive, and he takes the lift to the ground floor, where he exits the building to be greeted by the bustling city that was Seoul. With a soft smile adorning his face, he takes his earbuds and plugs them in, blasting Coldplay as he walks to the nearest Metro station. 

Being lonely isn’t bad around ten percent of the time, in Jeongin’s opinion. There are times like these, where he enjoys himself on his own, despite being surrounded by assholes and jerkfaces, and it’s times like these that make him wish that he could be like this forever, enjoying the company of himself and the city lights, of Coldplay and the sunset. 

He eventually boards the subway line that leads to this one area of Seoul that has secluded hills and minimal light pollution -- and it’s also the best place to stargaze, in Jeongin’s opinion.

That’s also exactly what he was planning to do. Sometimes, when he’s had a particularly bad day, he’d find comfort in the stars, imagining what possibilities are out there. What if there is life on other planets? What if he lived on those other planets? Would he be alienated just like he is at school?

He sits down, and waits as the Metro makes its way through Seoul. His leg bounces in anticipation as he holds on to his messenger bag, before he decides to pull out a notebook from the said messenger bag. The beautiful poetic lyrics of “Cemeteries of London” fill his head, as he flips through drawings of stars and constellations and planets in other galaxies that probably don’t exist. 

He flips to a blank page and digs for a mechanical pencil, before gently sketching lines of a new planet that his mind comes up with, scrutinizing every detail. Jeongin finds sketching as a great way to while away the time as the Metro weaves through Seoul. He draws tiny buildings -- this planet has life on it, and it’s blue, in Jeongin’s imagination. There’s a spacecraft leaving it, and Jeongin pauses, drumming his pencil against his lap as he thinks of a name for the planet. 

He wants the name to be special, unique, just like this planet is.

And then the perfect name hits him, and in block letters beneath his sketch, he writes _Miroh-terra._

_**_

Jeongin eventually ends up disembarking the train at the station next to this hilly area on the outskirts of Seoul, an area rarely visited by most, and now he was making that way to that hilly area. It is his favorite place in the world, other than his bed, because everything is dark, and on most nights, the stars that dotted the Milky Way were visible, blending with colorful hazes to create a beautiful view that Jeongin ends up getting lost in every single time. 

He trudges up the hill, lost in his own mind, and stops at the top. He smiles up at the glittery sky above him before a blinking light catches his eye from down below. He looks down, in the direction of the light, and upon sight of the source, he lets out a surprised, mildly terrified gasp. Coldplay stops playing, and Jeongin realizes his earbuds have fallen out of his ear in his shock, but that’s the least of his concern right now.

In between the circle of hills, down in the valley, a crashed spacecraft sits in the middle of everything. Blinking lights reflect in Jeongin’s surprised eyes and bounce off his blue hair, and he swears he hears something beep faintly, and he’s confused and very overwhelmed. What the hell is this spacecraft doing here? Where did it come from? How come no one’s noticed?

He sees a boy, a boy that looks oddly resemblant of a human being, crawl out of the spacecraft, and he chooses to go down and investigate, seeing if the stranger was okay. He slides off his bag and runs down the hill, stumbling and slipping along the way, and he slows down as he approaches the spaceship, his frantic sprint morphing into a cautious tiptoe. The boy-like creature looks okay, Jeongin assumes. He’s not really sure though, so he squats down to ask.

But then, they make eye contact, and Jeongin, instead of squatting, falls backwards on his butt in surprise. He just can't seem to get a grip, because everything about this creature is rainbow. He has raven-black hair with rainbow streaks, and his eyes are kaleidoscopic and Jeongin can see nebulas and supernovas, beginnings and ends, fire and ice, in the boy-creature’s eyes.

“Oh my… goodness,” he whispers to no one in particular.

The boy grabs Jeongin’s hand and Jeongin feels a tingle bolt up his spine. Rainbow hues cloud his vision, and for some stupid reason all he can think of is his astronomy book and how the sights triggered by this creature's touch reminded him of a nebula cloud. 

(Bold, and bright, and beautiful: Jeongin sees stars).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaaand part 1 is finished! there's going to be four parts, and i'm still deciding whether i should go angst or fluff, so that's why there are no warnings. but i do have their general love story planned out. 
> 
> :D stay safe, hydrate and don't procrastinate~  
> (and if you keep up with my other fics i'm probably going to update those at some point this weekend as well~)


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